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Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway allowed for an outlet for theatre artists beyond the confines of Broadway. Artists turned to smaller, out of the way buildings with low production costs and this allowed for these groups to take greater risks, without having to appeal to Broadway audiences (Brockett et al 209). During the 1950s, about fifty groups were performing Off-Broadway. By the 1960s, unions began to form in Off-Broadway theaters, causing production costs to rise. This led to the creation of Off-Off-Broadway. -
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American Modernism
Between 1950 and 1980, American theatre experienced many changes as it transitioned into a time of modernism following a major World War. Many theatre groups struggled, leading to organizations made to fund the arts, such as the NEA. America was full of social upheaval and theatre played a role in this. Many groups formed, including the Living Theatre and the Open Theatre. This time period provided an opportunity for the theatre to grow, and many well known playwrights came out of this time. -
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation made large grants to several theatre companies that were struggling with money but had succeeded in winning local support, such as Houston's Alley Theatre and Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage, which were both successful but desperately struggling to survive (Brockett et al 206). "In the US, Ford began supporting arts and culture before any government agency did so" (Ford Foundation). These grants were very crucial to theatre companies following the war. -
The Living Theatre
During the 1960s, there was a great amount of social upheaval within America, and theatre played an active role in this. The Living Theatre "epitomized rebellion against established authority in all of its aspects: values, behavior, language, dress, and theatrical conventions" (Brockett 214). After a brief time in which the Living Theatre left the U.S., it returned in 1968 and produced its most extreme and controversial piece, Paradise Now. The piece pushed many societal controversies. -
Edward Albee
During the 1960s, Edward Albee gained popularity as a playwright who reinvigorated American drama and soon became the most honored playwright after the 1962 production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Albee has written over thirty plays and received three Pulitzer Prizes for drama. Albee was the most critically acclaimed playwright in America within this time (Bockett et al 224). The change of the economic landscape allowed an opening for new playwrights, one of which was Edward Albee. -
Neil Simon
Neil Simon was America' s most commercially successful postwar playwright (Brockett et al 224). "With sharp dialogue, Simon blends comedy with more serious moments to craft plays that have attracted a wide audience" (Brockett et al 224). Simon's early comedies include Barefoot in the Park (1963), The Odd Couple (1965), and Plaza Suite (1968), and these were made into successful films. Simon wrote a Pulitzer Prize play in 1991 title Lost in Yonkers. He has written more than thirty plays. -
Guthrie Theater
The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis was a regional theatre that opened in 1963. This theater, along with other regional theaters, helped to make theatre accessible across the country. The publicity that sprang from the opening of the Guthrie Theater caused considerable interest in other cities and a boom in the construction of other new arts centers followed (Brockett et al 206). The Guthrie Theater first opened with Hamlet directed by Sir Tyrone Guthrie, the theater's founder (Guthrie Theater). -
The Open Theatre
Joseph Chaikin founded the Open Theatre in 1963, focusing most on redefining theatre's aesthetics and on actor training. Chaikin was grounded in theories of role playing and theatre games, and made a number of contributions in those areas. Two being collective creation and transformation. These contributions and improvisation led to the scripts performed at Open Theatre. The Open Theater helped to broaden the notion of what could be considered theatre (Brockett et al 216). -
Establishment of NEA
In 1965, the United States joined the majority of other countries in the world in providing financial support for the arts by establishing the National Endowment for the Arts. "The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide" (The NEA). The NEA's budget began as $2.9 million, but at its peak reached $176 million (Brockett et al). -
David Mamet
In the 1970s, David Mamet rose to prominence and became a very well known playwright. Some of his works include American Buffalo (1975), Glengarry Glen Ross (1984, Pulitzer Prize), and Speed-the-Plow (1988). These plays depict the "distortion of human beings by the materialistic goals of American society" (Brockett et al 225). Mamet's plays all revolve around issues and subjects that are prevalent in American society. -
Christopher Durang
Christopher Durang "has written numerous plays that take serious subjects and treat them so outrageously that they comically underscore the absurdity of modern life" (Brockett et al 226). His plays became popular because of this. He studied playwriting at the Yale School of Drama, and served as the Co-Chair of the Playwrights Program at the Juilliard School since 1994 (Brockett et al 226). Some of his plays include Beyond Therapy (1981), The Actor's Nightmare (1981), and Laughing Wild (1987).